Improvement in keepers for door-locks



PATENT OFFICE.

S. B. WILLIAMS, OF LEAVENWORTH,l KANSAS.

IMPROVEMENT iN KEEPEBS FOR DOOR-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 51,639, dated December19, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, S. B. WILLIAMS, of Leav enworth, in the county ofLeavenworth and State of Kansas, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Keepers of Door-Locks; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which willenable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is an elevation of so much ot' adoor-lock as illustrates my invention. Fig. 2 is an edge view.

This invention has for its object to compensate for the shrinking` andswelling of doors by means of a peculiar construction of doorlocks; andit consists in making the catch or keeper of a lock adjustablehorizontally, so that it can be brought nearer to or farther from thelock, as occasion requires.

A designates that part of the frame or casing of a door to which thekeeper of a lock is to be attached.

In carrying out my invention I make the keeper of two parts instead ofcasting them in one piece, the inner part being secured per- -manentlyto the frame or door-casing, and the outer part being attached to theinner part by an adjustable fastening. In this example of my inventionthe inner part, B, of the keeperthat is to say, the part which comesnext to the casing-is fixed to the casiu g by means of screws orequivalent devices. The front edge of the plate should be iiush with theedge of the casing.

C C are rabbets formed on the under side of the upper and lower edges ofthe plate, next to the casing, so that their said upper and lower edgesform, with the casing, grooves which receive tongues D D, formed on theends of the top plate, E, of the keeper.

The top plate, E, has on its front side the I usual beveled edge, F,against which the bolts of the lock strike when the door is closed, andits ends, on all sides but the front, are turned or bent down at rightangles with the face of the plate, so that the keeper is closed, asusual, on all sides but that which is presented toward the bolts. Theedges of the upper and lower ends of the plate E are, moreover, alsobent inward again at a right angle, as indicated byv or away from theedge of the casing, its hooked edges G Gr moving along in the rabbets CC, and so keepin gthe connection between the two plates unbroken. Whenthe screw is tightened the plate E is made fast upon plate B'. By thismeans I am enabled to make compensation for the expansion andcontraction of`a door and its casing without resetting the keeper or thecase of the lock, and without requiring, in the case of shrinkage, thatthe door or casing be altered in order to make tlie keeper engage thebolt.

Catches or keepers made in this way can be used in connection with locksof all the styles in common use without requiring any alteration in thelocks.

The device is simple in construction, and can be attached to the framesor casin gs of doors as easily as the ordinary keepers, while it is muchstronger than those.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Making thekeepers of door and other locks adjustable, to compensate for theexpansion and contraction of doors and doorcasin gs, substantially asabove described.

S. B. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

J AMES S. JILLZE, JOHN W. BABE.

